Strawberry Kiss
by Clover-tan
Summary: ClingyShipping/ BarryxLucas. Oneshot. Dawn and Roark head to Twinleaf Town, where they find out that Barry and Lucas have just had an argument and Lucas has gone missing. It's up to them to get those two back together again and turn them into a couple!


Author's Note: This is one of the oneshots relating to Dawn and Roark's quest on creating couples across Sinnoh and this fanfic was written upon a request. The previous oneshots I wrote relating to this would be Igniting His Spark (an IgnitionShipping fanfic) and Stargazing (an EliteUnderShipping fanfic). This story was inspired by the song Strawberry Jam by Ai Otsuka and I don't own anything except the story. Please, enjoy and reviews are very much appreciated~! ^^

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><p>-Strawberry Kiss-<p>

"Two couples! You hear that? Two couples, I tell you!" Dawn declared in pride as she and Roark marched down Route 201, leading to Twinleaf Town.

"Yeah, I know! You've said that a thousand times already!" Roark complained as he covered his ears with his hands in an unsuccessful attempt to drown out Dawn's deafening shouts of victory. "Besides, it's not like we actually helped much at setting them up together.."

"What?" The energetic young girl stopped in her tracks and glared menacingly at Roark, who stiffened in surprise and terror. "What do you mean, 'we didn't help much'? We were the people who established their foundation of romance, you hear?"

"Y-yes!" he immediately agreed, out of fear. "By the way…" He glanced around at the nearby trees, their branches swaying to the pleasant breeze. "Why are we heading to Twinleaf Town?"

"Oh.." They continued to stroll down the open path and she smiled. "I miss home," she stated solemnly.

There was a moment of silence as Roark peered into her eyes, making her nervous.

"What?" she asked, feeling a tad uncomfortable by his intense stare.

"You already have a plan in mind, don't you?" he inquired, sensing something.

"Damn it," she cursed in frustration. "You see right through me!"

He sighed. "Who is it this time?"

She grimaced, but obliged and nodded. "I was thinking maybe… Barry and Lucas?" She blushed sheepishly and grinned, taking pride in her already-devised plan. "Don't you think they'd make just the perfect couple?"

"That's what you said about the other couples we interfered with…" Roark plainly pointed out, to her dismay. "Although… aren't Barry and Lucas your childhood friends? Would you be comfortable setting them up together?"

"That's all the more reason to set them up together!" she protested, much to his surprise and disbelief. "I'm doing them a favour as their long-time and valuable friend! This is something that they'd be grateful towards me for years to come..!"

"I.. I see.." Roark didn't look too convinced.

She ignored him as always and skipped ahead of him, eventually reaching a sign labelled, 'Twinleaf Town'.

"We're here!" she happily stated.

He caught up to her and panted in exhaustion as she continued to walk off, leaving him behind yet again.

"Wow, it's been such a long time since I came back here.. Everything looks so much smaller.." She gasped in amazement as she gazed around and reminisced her childhood days. "This is so nostalgic.." she mumbled quietly.

"Hm." Roark watched in interest as she continued to take in the many wonders of her hometown and he took wonder in the fact that this was the first time he saw her so emotional and quiet, unlike her usual upbeat and talkative self. He found it to be quite attractive.

Click.

A door opened and out stepped a blond-haired boy wearing a orange and white jacket and a light green scarf. He stretched and yawned as he took in a breath of fresh air and sighed in refreshment. "An afternoon breeze is always lovely, isn't it?" Although he pretended to sound carefree and nonchalant, he was clearly irritated by something and didn't seem to be able to conceal it.

"Who're you talking to?"

The young boy, Barry, immediately turned his head around in surprise to see Dawn staring at him.

"W-whoa!" he exclaimed in surprise and fumbled, almost falling backwards in shock. "Dawn?"

"The one and only!" She grinned and posed proudly. "Missed me?"

He quickly brought his cool back together and scoffed, "Yeah, right."

She chuckled. "You're still the same as ever, aren't you, Barry?"

He grinned back. "I could say the same about you, Dawn."

She then noticed something. "Say, where's Lucas?"

His eyes widened and he stood still as soon as he heard her say the name 'Lucas'. She stared at him in confusion as he didn't say a word, concerning her a little.

"Earth to Barry, where's Lucas, I asked?" she repeated, louder this time.

"Huh?" He snapped out of his daze and shrugged. "Um, I don't know, I haven't seen him.. Seriously, why'd you have to ask me of all people? I mean, it's not as if we're together 24/7 or something…"

She raised an eyebrow curiously and frowned. "I wasn't implying anything," she insisted. "I was just asking, that's all. Besides, who else would I ask?"

He shrugged again and looked away in embarrassment. "I don't have anything to do with that guy," he solemnly stated.

"Huh." She crossed her arms and took a step forward, leaning closer to him. "What's up, Barry?"

He stiffened awkwardly and wasn't able to look at her in the eye since she was staring at him so intensely. "W-why are you behaving so weird?"

"Hey, don't treat me as if I don't know you because I _do_ know you and I _do_ know whenever something's troubling you so why don't you cut the crap and tell me what's the matter?" she snapped, surprising him.

He hesitated for a moment, but finally looked her in the eye and began to talk. "Lucas and I… we had an argument."

"Oh." Dawn was quite surprised since they always seemed to get along, albeit they did constantly bicker, but it was never something serious. ".. Did you lose to him in a battle or something?" she questioned jokingly with a grin.

He shook his head apathetically, causing her to drop the humour. "Lucas said that he was annoyed because of me." He sighed and scratched his head. "I guess it all started like this…"

"_Hey, Lucas! I finally found you! Where've you been? Say, do you want to go out and battle or do something? I've picked these strawberries and saved some for you, summer's a great season for berries, you know! Anyway, wanna eat or -."_

"_No."_

_He didn't even turn to look at Barry, who was standing at the front door to his bedroom, holding a plate of bright red strawberries; he just kept on playing his video game without taking notice of the boy behind him._

"_L-Lucas?" Barry blinked his eyes and stared, wide-eyed at the back of his friend, who still didn't bother to turn around and look him in the eye._

"_You're annoying me."_

"_I-I am?"_

"_Yeah, you're so attached to me and it's irritating. Seriously, just go."_

_The young blonde stood still, dumbstruck by his friend's harsh, blunt words. This wasn't the Lucas he knew and befriended. This was.. Someone else._

"_I see." He nodded and turned around. "I guess I won't bother you anymore, then."_

_As he was about to leave the room, Lucas abruptly got up and rushed out the door ahead of him, brushing past his shoulder, causing him to drop the plate of strawberries, which clattered onto the floor. As he was about to leave, he turned around and took a quick glance at the dumbfounded blonde and turned away again._

"_Sorry, Barry."_

"Gee, that doesn't sound like Lucas at all," Dawn remarked in surprise. She then peered closely at Barry, who shifted away cautiously. "You didn't make any of this up, did you?"

"Of course not!" he yelled angrily.

She shrugged and nodded. "I guess we'll have to go and find him then."

"Why would I wanna do that?" he protested and crossed his arms.

"Come on, you don't wanna leave it like this, do you? You'll thank me later, trust me. A lot of people have!"

He didn't understand what she meant with her last sentence, but he followed her anyway.

They strolled down Route 201 and eventually reached an intersection, one leading to Lake Verity.

"You don't suppose he's at the lake, do you?" Dawn suggested and gestured at the sign.

Barry shrugged and replied, "I don't know." He was clearly still maddened by Lucas's words.

She sighed in frustration and gave him a light push. "You know, he's probably there anyway so why don't you go ahead and I'll catch up later, huh?"

"W-what? What do I say to him?"

She winked at him and gave him a final, strong push. "Say something cute. He's a sucker for cute things so he'll probably give in to you, Barry."

"C-cute things?" He frowned in confusion and panicked as she turned and walked away. "Wait, what do I do?"

He groaned in dismay as he realized that she'd left him to deal with the situation by himself, but he didn't want to run away. Instead, he took in a breath of air and stepped into the entrance to Lake Verity.

"Hey."

Lucas jolted in surprise and swerved around to see Barry, awkwardly waving at him with a forced-on smile, which just seemed creepy. He frowned in dismay and turned away again, much to Barry's annoyance.

"Listen to me when I'm talking to you," the blonde angrily snapped, catching his attention.

"I _am_ listening to you," he insisted.

"Then why are you being so cold and distant?"

"…"

"Also, answer me when I ask you a question!" he snapped again. With a sigh of frustration, the awkward blonde hesitantly sat down next to him on the curb beside the crystal-clear lake.

"I.. I have something to tell you," he abruptly stated. "You can't blame me if you don't like what you hear, though."

"Go on," he urged.

Lucas blushed furiously and hid his head under his knees in embarrassment. "I, um, lately I've been getting some strange feelings whenever I'm around you and, um, I kind of having the feeling that it might be something like…"

"Like…?"

"H-hey, I'm not gay or anything, alright?" he suddenly shouted.

He frowned. "Er, I never said you were."

"Y-yeah, but.. Would you mind?"

There was a short silence as Barry stared intensely into Lucas's wavering eyes. Lucas felt his heart beat rapidly as he gazed at his dear friend, who didn't utter a word. He just couldn't wait to hear his response; did he.. Feel the same way?

"Dude, what the hell are you talking about?"

Lucas felt his heart sink; his eccentric blond friend was still as clueless as ever.

"I'm talking about how I'm in love with you!" he shouted, without even taking a second to think.

Silence fell yet again, but this time, it was much longer.

Barry's eyes widened in shock and disbelief; he was completely and utterly dumbstruck. "You.. What?" he stuttered nervously.

"I kind of have a crush on you… but I'm not gay or anything," he quickly stated.

He frowned in confusion. "Then, what are you?"

Lucas's face turned a darker shade of scarlet. "I-I don't know, it's just… my feelings are, how do you put it? They're exclusive to you and you only," he explained and continued to blush uncontrollably.

"…" Barry's face turned from pale to light pink to bright crimson as he struggled to maintain his cool. "Um, I don't mind, it's just.. I've never given that much thought, although…"

Lucas's ears perked up in surprise and hopefulness. "Although?" he urged.

"I feel kind of happy, hearing you say that and all."

"So.. You…"

"Yeah." Barry nodded and smiled weakly. "I guess so."

"Sorry for avoiding and mistreating you.. I was pretty sure you didn't feel the same way so I thought the best thing to do would be to distance myself from you and eventually those feelings would fade away," he apologized guiltily with a smile.

"Well then, I'm glad we had this conversation," he remarked and laid down on the soft grass. "Otherwise I'd lose my dear friend, right?"

Lucas's eyes widened in surprise. "F-friend?" he stuttered.

Barry smirked and reached a hand out to cup the blushing boy's cheek. "Oh, I'm sorry," he sheepishly apologized. "I meant, _boyfriend_." He was quite happily taking enjoyment in Lucas's embarrassment.

Lucas's face turned a deeper, most intense shade of crimson and he shook his head vigorously. "D-don't play around!" he shouted.

"I'm not!" He grinned cutely. "I like you."

They gazed at each other for a moment before something else caught Lucas's eye and he turned away for a brief second. "You're right," he remarked. "There are lots of strawberries in the summer." He then reached out and picked a bright red strawberry, which hung on a small green plant. "You like strawberries, don't you, Barry?"

The young blond continued to watch his other's movements. "Yeah."

Lucas smiled contentedly and hovered the strawberry above Barry's face. "Open your mouth," he insisted.

As he was about to comply, he suddenly had another idea in mind and smirked confidently. "No," he denied.

"No?"

"Don't use your hand to feed it to me, use your mouth," the cheeky blond ordered, much to his boyfriend's surprise and disbelief. Lucas hesitated, but slowly and shyly placed the short green stem of the strawberry into his mouth and leaned forward so that their noses almost touched. He felt his boyfriend's heat emanating from his body, causing his heart to beat rapidly, perhaps even skipping a beat. Barry reached forward and caressed his neck and shoulder with his hand, bringing him forward, making their lips lock, where he bit the strawberry and kissed his tense, panicking boyfriend. It was either the most embarrassing or coolest thing he'd ever done, but he didn't care at all. He finally pulled away and smirked as he watched Lucas gasp and breathe rapidly, his face extremely red, like a strawberry.

"B-Barry…" he mumbled anxiously.

The blond smiled; he was way too darn cute. "You know," he began, but suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Barry?"

"Pfft!" He spat out the strawberry in disgust and retched. "Th-that was a mock strawberry!"

"Another couple has been made and again, I'm responsible!" Dawn chuckled and marched down the pathway in pride. "Still though, it's kind of weird how all of the couples are boys, but I guess the gay invasion has terrorised Sinnoh, huh? Man, it kind of bums me out though since I still don't have a boyfriend.." she mumbled in complaint. She then sighed and grinned. "Oh well, I'll find one soon, I guess. After all, I'm the lord of all matchmakers, make way for Dawn and her sidekick -." She suddenly stopped in her tracks and frowned. "Oh, crap."

Roark trembled as the sky darkened and the sun began to set. He wasn't used to travelling around outdoors, only the underground mines. The breeze was getting stronger and much colder and he shivered and sniffled. The worst thing was, Dawn was nowhere to be seen and he didn't even know what route he was at.

"W-where am I?"


End file.
